It looks like a new tenant is coming to the Kettering Tower, with a significant renovation project planned as a result.

A building permit has been filed to remodel 14,000 square feet of space on the 17th floor of the tallest office tower in the Dayton region and 4,800 square feet of space on the 18th floor. The permit was filed by MV Commercial Construction, a division of Dayton-based Miller-Valentine Group. The building permits call for roughly $850,000 in renovation work.

Officials from Miller-Valentine declined to comment for this story.

Paul Miller, vice president/broker with the Dayton office of CB Richard Ellis, said he is in final negotiations with a tenant to take approximately 20,000 square feet of space in the Kettering Tower.

In addition, Miller, the leasing agent for the Kettering Tower, said he has been working with nine other prospective tenants totalling more than 80,000 square feet.

“We feel that our audience recognizes that this building is strong, stable and well located,” Miller said.

The Kettering Tower is currently in receivership, a result of a foreclosure lawsuit filed against its owner, Kettering Tower Partners LLC. The 486,000-square-foot tower is approximately 71 percent occupied.

At this time last year, CB Richard Ellis was appointed the receiver of the 29-story building as part of a lawsuit to foreclose on the property.Kettering Tower Partners owed more than $44 million to its two lenders, Bank of America N.A. and Aurora Bank FSB. Last May, the lenders filed a lawsuit requesting the mortgage on Kettering Tower be foreclosed and the property sold.

There are currently two tenants located on the 17th floor of the Kettering Tower, Celstar Group Inc. and CBert Properties LLC, according to the tower’s directory.

The remodel work comes after the loss of two tenants at one of downtown Dayton’s premier office buildings.

During the past two months, Michael’s Dining and Jazz, the first-floor restaurant in Kettering Tower, closed its doors. And C.H. Dean Inc., a tenant of the office building for more than 30 years, announced it will relocate to Pentagon Tower in Beavercreek.

But Miller said activity and interest at the Kettering Tower continues to be strong.